ArticleOccupational and environmental medicine2006
Tuberculosis and silica exposure in South African gold miners.
Article in Occupational and environmental medicine, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 112 citations in OpenAlex.
- AWMF S2k Guideline: Diagnosis and Assessment of Lung Disease Caused by Occupational Silica Dust Exposure (Silicosis) - Disease No. 4101 as per Occupational Diseases Ordinance (BKV) Annex 1.Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases · 2026Guideline
- The association between silica exposure, silicosis and tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2021Pooled it
- Assessing the Influence of Socio-Demographic and Personal Traits (Knowledge, Attitude) on Practices Among Silica-Dust Exposed Mineworkers in the SADC Region.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Risk factors for silicotuberculosis among miners: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Silicosis in Zambian ex-copper miners: A cross-sectional study.African journal of thoracic and critical care medicine · 2025Article
- Framework for implementing collaborative TB-silicosis activities in India: insights from an expert panel.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2024Article
- Mixed methods study on latent tuberculosis among agate stone workers and advocacy for testing silica dust exposed individuals in India.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among casual labourers working in selected road construction sites in central Uganda.PloS one · 2024Article
- Silicosis as a predictor of tuberculosis mortality and treatment failure and need for incorporation in differentiated TB care models in India.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2023Article
- Article
- Accelerated silicosis and silico-tuberculosis: A difficult diagnosis.Clinical case reports · 2022Article
- Resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection among highly TB exposed South African gold miners.PloS one · 2022Article
- Tuberculosis and Silicosis Burden in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners in a Large Occupational Health Outreach Programme in Zimbabwe.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Mini-review: Silico-tuberculosis.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2021Review
- Silicosis, progressive massive fibrosis and silico-tuberculosis among workers with occupational exposure to silica dusts in sandstone mines of Rajasthan state: An urgent need for initiating national silicosis control programme in India.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2021Article
- The prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among miners from the Karonga, Rumphi, Kasungu and Lilongwe Districts of Malawi in 2019.Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2020Article
- Can the South African Milestones for Reducing Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Silicosis be Achieved and Reliably Monitored?Frontiers in public health · 2020Article
- Environmental Silica Dust Exposure and Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Johannesburg, South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Analysis of the effects of mesoporous silica particles SBA-15 and SBA-16 in Streptococcus pneumoniae transformation process.Folia microbiologica · 2019Article
- Oxidative potential (OP) and mineralogy of iron ore particulate matter at the Gol-E-Gohar Mining and Industrial Facility (Iran).Environmental geochemistry and health · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsTo examine the effect of silica exposure, in the absence of silicosis, on the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), which is epidemic among South African gold miners.
methodsCross-sectional study of 520 gold miners over 37 years of age. Length of service, and cumulative and average dust and quartz exposure indices were derived for each miner. Chest radiographs were read for PTB by two NIOSH "B" readers. PTB was defined as a self-reported history of PTB or PTB on chest radiograph. Logistic regression was used to adjust for age, smoking, and silicosis. PTB effects of different exposure metrics for silica, scaled on their interquartile range (IQR), were compared.
resultsMeans (ranges) were: age 46.7 (37.1-59.9) years; length of service 21.8 (6.3-34.5) years; average intensity of respirable quartz 0.053 (0-0.095) mg/m3. PTB prevalence was 19.4% (95% CI 16.0 to 22.8) on history alone, and 35.2% (95% CI 31.1 to 39.3) on history or on chest radiograph. Length of service was poorly predictive of PTB, while all exposure indices which included dust or quartz yielded prevalence odds ratios (PORs) of approximately 1.4 (95% CI approximately 1.1 to 1.8) for changes of one interquartile range in exposure. Controlling for silicosis--by adjustment or restriction--did not modify these results. Drillers and winch operators had the highest PTB prevalences and the highest dust and silica exposures.
conclusionOlder in-service gold miners in South Africa have a high prevalence of PTB, which is significantly associated with dust and silica exposure, even in the absence of silicosis. Limitations include a survivor workforce and the use of cumulative exposures based on current exposures. Dust control is an important component in control of the PTB epidemic in South African gold mines.
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